Tuesday, June 29, 2010

X-Post: Some o' that Famous AmericaNeoCon Class: "Robert C. Bryd, Longest Serving KKK Leader in U.S. Senate, Dead at 92"

The body's not even cold, but some of the Con vultures are already diving in for their piece:

American Power: Robert C. Bryd, Longest Serving KKK Leader in U.S. Senate, Dead at 92
Byrd was 92 and the longest serving member of the U.S. Senate. A former member of the Klu Klux Klan and "Exalted Kleagle," Bryd was the only senator to vote against both Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas for confirmation to the Supreme Court. As late as 2001 Byrd was known to still deploy the epithet "nigger" in political debate. But the Democratic Party and leftist leadership groups nevertheless championed racist Senator Byrd as a lion of the Senate. The man should have retired decades ago, along with the hatred with which he represented.

And nothin' but encomiums for Exalted Kleagle Byrd at the racist Daily Kos. Go figure."

Funny how so many of these folks claim to follow Christian ethics, but never permit a man to find repentance here in life. Once a sinner, always a sinner, regardless of regret, remorse, repentance, and many years of good works since (assuming being a Democrat isn't itself a sin to these asses.)

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Anyone who cannot wait until the body is in the ground before attacking the deceased is not a good person. Be a man Donald Douglas. Act like a human being, and let the bereaved mourn, at least. There'll be plenty of time to beat up on the dead body of Robert Byrd next week, AFTER the damed funeral.

Scumbag.


Also posting (revised and extended, as necessary):

Dr. Douglas' fellow scumbags:
Moonbattery: Item #3: White Sheets to be Flown at Half-Staff Today
Ed Driscoll - Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) Dead at 92
Confederate Yankee: Off To that Great Klavern In the Sky
Robert Byrd, Longest-Serving U.S. Senator and Former KKK Member, Dies at 92 | NewsReal Blog
Rhymes With Right - Kleagle Bob Byrd, The Guilty Conscience Of The Senate, Is Dead

Human beings:
memeorandum
alicublog: A Little Respect
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Originally posted at American Nihilist

In Reply: "Letting another man hold a razor to your neck reminds you that you're alive."

In reply to: Announcing 3 New AoM T-Shirt Designs Giving Away 3 AoM T-Shirts! - The Art of Manliness, asking which of these shirt designs is my favorite.
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Of the newest three, my favorite is “Let’s Go,” — Anything with a US flag will get my attention, especially this close to Independence Day — but my all-time favorite is and always has been “Razor Sharp.” One of the first AoM posts I read was “Why Every Man Should Go To A Barber Shop” and, though it took me awhile to find a good shop myself, I still believe that “allowing another man to hold a razor to your neck is a good way to remind yourself that you’re alive.”

So yeah… I’m sticking with the straight razor.


Posted June 29, 2010 at 6:19 am

Monday, June 28, 2010

How people view you depends on how you react when a political opponent suffers

In reply to: Cassy Fiano - BREAKING: Senator Robert Byrd dead at 92; conservative blogosphere reacts, and in particular this comment (#3), from Morgan K Freeberg, who says:

I’m sure you realize that if a reader works hard enough, throwing Sen. Byrd’s ancient words into his face could be construed as “mean spirited.” By “could be,” of course, what I really mean is it’s definitely gonna happen.

So just for sake of contrast: You’ll recall former Vice President Dick Cheney was “complaining of discomfort.” Apologies in advance for comparing you to them, Cassy, but here’s the FARK thread where the witty-edgy-college-dorm-set reacts to the news.

Personally, I think the back-and-forth arguments over which side has a monopoly on wonderful-decent-people, and which side is bogged down with slimy awful terrible sleazebag people, is a stupid distraction; decent wonderful people come up with stupid ideas all the time. But the biased editorializing fascinates me, and the minute someone conservative says something less than flattering about Sen. Byrd I know I’m going to be buried in the coverage of it whether I wish it or not. So it’s a productive exercise to skim through the “progressive” comments about Cheney, to maintain a sense of perspective.

Regarding Byrd, best wishes to his family. And the harshest thing I’ll say about him is, since he was known to have so much concern over how much dignity or discredit was being brought to the Senate by this-or-that thing, retiring at about age 80 might’ve been a good move for him. Rest in peace.

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Another way of looking it it, Morgan, is that there are both classy people and assholes all along the political spectrum. Perhaps whether people see you personally as classy or as an asshole isn't a function of where your politics lie, but what you do and say when a person with whom you disagree politically suffers or dies. One thing that I'm sure of, is this "team" mentality (We're all "wonderful decent people," and they're all "slimy awful terrible sleazebag people") isn't serving anyone well. Both kinds of people (and everything in between) appear in both camps. If we was smarter, we'd attack the individuals who misbehave, rather than pretending that the worst among 'em represent all of "them," and the best among us represent all of "us." It's useless fiction.

I take issue with those who're attacking Senator Byrd before the body is cold not because they're conservatives, but because they're nasty people who're doing something I find kinda distasteful and inhumane to the people who loved the guy. I feel the same about your "FARK on Cheney" folks, too... Anyone who can't wait until after the mourners have left the gravesite before ripping into the memory of the deceased is kinda goulish, in my humble... YMMV...
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I don't know whether or not Cassy Fiano moderates her blog, but hitting "submit" made my comment disappear, and so far, it remains unpublished...

In Reply: Opinion Journalism is "real" journalism... in fact, it may be some of the best.

In reply to: The Plum Line - A little message to Jeffrey Goldberg's anonymous Post sources, and the idea that "opinion journalism" isn't "real" journalism:
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Opinion journalism is the best thing to happen to "the news" in a long time...

While I'm not as dismissive of the folks trying to play it straight as some of the other folks commenting -- as long as they don't fall into the "fair and balanced" trap that leads some to give us the equivalent of "Some say the Earth is round. Others disagree. Here to talk about it is a representative of each camp...", I'm ok with those who try to avoid slant and bias in their reporting.

But a more adversarial system, with reporters on "the left" explaining where reporters on "the right" are misstating facts, and libertarians showing up the faults of neocon opinioneers (and vice versa, of course... ...on those few occasions where that's actually possible) is doing more to get to the heart of "the truth" than so-called unbiased reporting ever did.

Anyone who claims not to've known where Weigel stood politically probably shouldn't be reading a paper, let alone writing for or producing one. But he and those like him have contributed much to the public's understanding of the stories they covered and most certainly are reporters. WaPo's loss will be some other media outlet's gain, and the public will continue being served by good solid reporting of both fact and opinion.
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Posted June 28, 2010 12:44 PM

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